PREVIEW | Tour de France Femmes 2024 - Demi Vollering the ultimate favourite to take another title
Cycling
From the 12th to 18th August the Tour de France Femmes 2024 will be on the road. After it's return, it has quickly become one of women's cycling most important and attractive events, and the 2024 edition promises to deliver with a route that is packed with surprises.
The Grand Depart takes place in Rotterdam. The first three days will be in the Netherlands and in pan-flat roads. The first day of racing will have 122 kilometers on the menu and the first yellow jersey should be given in a bunch sprint at La Haye (The Hague).
The second day of racing features two different stages. The first of which from Dordrecht to Rotterdam, only 69 kilometers which should end in another bunch sprint.
The second stage of the day is the race's sole time-trial. It is a very short one and will have less influence then previous years. Still in Rotterdam, the riders will tackle 6.3 kilometers where small differences will be created.
Stage 4 will be the race's own Ardennes classic. This will be a very special one, the start of the stage is in the Valkenburg area where Amstel Gold Race takes place. Here four of the race's most famous climbs will be ridden right from the start. Then, after crossing the border to Belgium, the riders tackle the final ascents of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. La Redoute, Forges and Roche-aux-Faucons will provide terrain to create differences on the road before the mountains.
Stage 1: Rotterdam - La Haye, 122.7 kilometers
Stage 2: Dordrecht - Rotterdam, 69.2 kilometers
Stage 3 (ITT): Rotterdam - Rotterdam, 6.3 kilometers
Stage 4: Valkenburg - Liège, 122.8 kilometers
Stage 5 will be another hilly day. This one not as hard. The finale in Amneville should see quite an open race until then. The riders find a few hilltops in the run-up to the finish, and inside the final kilometer itself there is a 600-meter ramp at 5% which should put some sprinters under difficulties.
Another difficult day on stage 6. The route from Remiremont to Morteau features 159 kilometers and quite a lot of climbs. 2200 meters of climbing and four ascents in the second half of the day. All of them are not overly hard and allow for plenty riders to try their luck. It's rolling terrain, where tactics can be quite important. The general classification can be played for on a day like this, but outsiders and even some sprinters may also thrive - as well as breakaway opportunists.
The race arrives at the Alps on stage 7 with the longest day of the race. 166 kilometers with a summit finish at Le Grand-Bornand. The Col de la Croix de la Serra will be hard in the first half of the day, but the spectacle should be in the final summit finish - which features two climbs separated by a very quick descent, with 5.5Km at 5.2% and finally 8.5km at 4.8%.
Finally, the queen stage. Two ascents to kick off the hardest day of the race's history perhaps. With long distances present, the final day of racing sees the riders climb up the Col du Glandon which is 19.9 kilometers at 7.2%. After a rolling descent the riders take the valley road to the base of the Alpe d'Huez. There the Tour de France Femmes will end. The 21 hairpins over the 14 kilometers at 7.9% will be critical and create massive gaps which can ultimately decide the race.
Stage 5: Bastogne - Amneville, 152.9 kilometers
Stage 6: Remiremont - Morteau, 159.5 kilometers
Stage 7: Champagnole - Le Grand-Bornand, 166.6 kilometers
Stage 8: Le Grand-Bornand - Alpe d'Huez, 150.3 kilometers
Prediction Tour de France Femmes 2024 overall classification:
*** Demi Vollering
** Neve Bradbury, Gaia Realini, Riejanne Markus
* Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Elise Chabbey, Kristen Faulkner, Evita Muzic, Cecillie Uttrup Ludwig, Mavi Garcia, Juliette Labous, Niamh Fisher-Black, Pauliena Rooijakkers
** Neve Bradbury, Gaia Realini, Riejanne Markus
* Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Elise Chabbey, Kristen Faulkner, Evita Muzic, Cecillie Uttrup Ludwig, Mavi Garcia, Juliette Labous, Niamh Fisher-Black, Pauliena Rooijakkers
Pick: Demi Vollering
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Seriously do you think when somebody gets into a serious accident, the ambulance is called by the hurt person?🤦 there is always a buddy system in place for a risky job. police , firefighters etc so that if someone gets hurt, the other call that in.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
🤩The official route of the #TDFF2024 avec @GoZwift! 🤩 Voici le parcours officiel du #TDFF2024 avec Zwift ! #WatchTheFemmes
Write a comment